Tuesday, January 09, 2007

My weakness for a good kidlit cover knows no bounds. So when I chose my top two picks for the Best Covers of the Year in the Golden Fuse Awards, I knew they had to be covers that were faithful to their story, beautiful to the eye, and something a kid would be inclined to pick up. As you may recall, The Palace of Laughter won the top spot and all was well. Imagine my delight then when Brandon Dorman, the artist himself, sent me some initial sketches of that same cover. I present them to you now for your viewing pleasure. These are not the order in which he created them, insofar as I know, but I love how they show how his style changed as the essential elements shifted about. The last one is the final image.

Check out Mr. Dorman's website if you ever get a chance. There's some beautiful stuff there and quite a few covers you might recognize.

Dontchu worry none, Ms. Fama. He's sweet as sweet, and undoubtedly didn't mind a jot. And as these sketches show, he does a lot of his work sketching out his images before the computer work comes in. There's nothing quite like watching a process come into focus.